Action Briefing Oct 2004 - Nov 2004
	The Newsletter of Birmingham Friends of the Earth

Council debate a GM-free Brum

On Tuesday 12th October, Birmingham City Council’s full council meeting debated a Liberal Democrat-tabled resolution that would, if adopted, make the City an ‘official’ GM-free area, reinforcing the existing policy with a commitment to keep genetically modified crops out of Birmingham.

The City Council already bans GM-derived ingredients from council-run services like school meals but this resolution would go one step further and commit the Council to (a) ensuring no GM crops are grown on land over which it has control, and (b) applying to the Secretary of State for Agriculture and the European Commission (EC) for Birmingham’s geographical area to be excluded from any consent granted to grow GM crops in Europe. In May last year Birmingham’s agricultural land comprised 1032 hectares with 45 lettings, including 13 full time farm holdings.

Friends of the Earth's GM-Free Britain campaign has shown how local authorities can use Article 19 of the Deliberate Release Directive to help them achieve GM-free status. If a biotech company wants to market a GM crop in the EU, it needs to obtain a Part C (marketing) Consent under the Deliberate Release Directive. Once a Part C Consent is granted for a GM crop, it can then be marketed across the EU without further restriction or local consultation.

However, Article 19 states that any Part C consent for a GM crop must specify conditions for the protection of particular ecosystems and environments and/or geographical areas. For example, a Part C consent could be granted allowing a GM crop to be grown throughout the EU except in, say, Devon. To make their case for such a condition, local authorities can write to the Secretary of State asking him/her to seek a ‘geographical area’ exemption from the EC. This would need to be done for each prospective Part C Consent which was relevant to the area (i.e. for each GM crop likely to be grown there).

In the event, time constraints and a technicality to do with potential costing meant that the Lib Dems’ resolution had to be referred back to the executive for fine tuning. Deputy Leader of the Council and Liberal Democrat Group leader Councillor John Hemming told Action Briefing, “The Council voted for Birmingham to be GM-free. The decision, however, is one for the executive. I have, therefore, tasked an officer to write a report to commit Birmingham to be GM-free which can go to the cabinet."

Revolt
Meanwhile, the mass revolt against GM crops continues to gather momentum in the UK and Europe. To date nearly 60 UK local authorities have now declared themselves GM-free areas by opposing the growing of GM crops on council owned land and banning GM ingredients in catering, such as school meals. A third of these authorities have also included a commitment to use Article 19 to get any GM crops that receive consent banned in their entire geographical areas.

The public has consistently rejected GM crops and their derivatives. In August 2004 a survey by Which magazine reported that 61% of people asked were concerned about the use of GM in food production. Last year’s ‘GM Nation?’ public debate found that 54% of those polled said they never wanted to see GM crops grown in the UK. A further 18% would find GM crops acceptable only if there was no risk of cross-contamination, and 13% wanted more research before any decision was made. Just 2% said that GM crops were acceptable “in any circumstances” and only 8% were happy to eat GM food (86% were not).

No credible economic case exists for GM crops in the UK. Last July, as part of the ‘GM Nation?’ exercise, a report by the Government’s Strategy Unit concluded that public refusal to eat GM food meant that there could be little economic value in the current generation of GM crops, and that continuing public opposition jeopardised their long-term future. A review of the scientific issues, led by Professor Sir David King (the Government’s Chief Scientific Adviser, of “climate-change-is-a-bigger-threat-than-terrorism” fame) exposed the significant gaps in our scientific knowledge of the potential impacts of GM food and crops on our health and the environment.

Cold feet
Even those with most to gain from GM commercialisation are getting cold feet. In July 2004, Anglo-Swiss biotech firm Syngenta announced its intention to close its laboratories in Berkshire and move to the US. In May, Monsanto announced that it was stopping all further efforts to commercialise its controversial GM wheat. In March, German-based Bayer CropScience announced that they no longer intended to press ahead with the commercialisation of GM maize in the UK even though the Government had given qualified approval to GM maize that same month.

Unfortunately, these setbacks for the GM industry do not mean the problem has gone away. The EC is presently considering applications for the import and growing of over 20 different GM crops. If approved, there will be nothing stopping these crops being grown in the UK. Friends of the Earth believes that no GM crops should be grown until new laws are in place that hold the GM companies liable if things go wrong, and that prevent GM contamination of organic and conventional crops.

The Government has just started a consultation process on contamination and liability (see www.defra.gov.uk) and will not have any safeguards in place in time for the 2005 growing season. What’s more, it looks like the regulations will be inadequate to prevent widespread GM contamination of conventional and organic crops and food. In response, Friends of the Earth has launched a campaign around the theme of scarecrows to demand the best protection for non-GM crops and food from GM contamination.

James Botham

Take Action
On 30th October Birmingham FoE and other Friends of the Earth local groups around the country will be holding a day of action, taking to the streets with our scarecrows. Members of the public will be invited to sign postcards asking their MP to support tough legislation on GM contamination and liability. We’ll be in the City Centre from around 12 noon onwards so call James 0121 632 6909 if you would like to participate (or if you can help with making scarecrows!) For more information and ways you can help visit www.gmfreescarecrows.org.